Getaria > Mutriku > Ziortza-Bolibar > Gernika > Bilbao

The last time you heard from me, I was in a world of pain and sadness.

 

After a break in Getaria, life has been much easier because I have discovered pinxtos – pintxos are wonderful little morsels of deliciousness delivered to you on a piece of fresh baguette – all different flavours and sizes and a perfect accompaniment to a cerveza or vino.

From Getaria, I walked to Deba which was approximately 21kms. Deba is this crazy town that has lifts that will take you from top to bottom all over the city:

I was pretty stuffed at this stage and with another 5kms to go, I decided to catch a taxi to the next albergue in Mutriku. I know what your thinking, “what’s another 5kms on top of the 20 that you’ve already done?”. I asked myself the same question, and in response I simply flick my hair in your face, because catching a taxi was a lot harder than you think!

As the lady in the tourism office was less than helpful, I spoke to a kind looking policeman to assist me. This, of course, did not go as planned and all he did was give me a sheet of paper with the phone number of the taxi company. I thought “what the heck, I’ll try and call them with my limited Spanish”. I put a Euro into the payphone, the taxi company picked up and I said “Hola, un taxi por Deba, por favor”, to which they replied in rapid Spanish and hung up. I then decided to ask the lady in the fruit shop for help with the taxi – she also handed me a piece of paper with the phone number for the taxi company.

I finally walked into a clothes shop and asked the lady there, desperately asking for her to call for me (it was about 6:30pm at this stage). Using many hand gestures and pointing, she got the gist and called the taxi company and 45 minutes later, I got into a nice warm cab and was driven all the way to the super cool albergue in Mutriku.

From Mutriku, I travelled by two buses to Markina-Xemein (I missed my stop and had to go back) and then walked 10kms to Monasterio de Zenarruza where I stayed at a Monestary and was fed by the monks who lived there (they also make their own beer). I ate well that night, full of delicious hardy vegetable soup and baguette.

Most of my journey so far has been confused desperation – e.g. “why did the walk say it was 17.8kms when it was actually 29kms?” and “why is it still raining?” To be honest, I’ve been pretty miserable, but as I’ve got the habit of starting something and never completing it, I’ve banned myself from doing it this time. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, I’ve taken the approach of – ‘I know it’s hard at the moment, but we’ll find another way there’.

I walked from the Monestary to Gernika (the so-called 17.8km walk) – this walk was crazy – as it had been raining all night, the whole trail was muddy and slippery. I slipped onto my butt once and got so filthy dirty, I started to look like a street-rat.

From Gernika, instead of walking 33km to Bilbao (approx 8 hour walk), I caught the train (45 minutes).

Bilbao is brilliant. Everything about this city is wonderful – especially their pintxos.

I have had another rest day in Bilbao, which has allowed me to check out the Guggenheim Museum, which is incredibly kickass (the exhibits for Louise Bourgeois and Anselm Kiefer were my favourites. Plus a video & sound installation by Ho Tzu Nyen called The Cloud of Unknowing).

One day I hope to start enjoying this walk. I will of course continue to pick flowers, make sure I stretch everyday and also continue taking photos to keep my spirit up.

Until next time, espero que estés bien.

– Miss Adventure